The internet has opened up revenue streams that none of us could have imagined 10 or 20 years ago. There are more job opportunities online today than ever before, and that trend is only increasing. But along with this massive new sector of the economy comes those who would profit from it using deception: scammers.
In this post, we explore five common client proofreading scams and how to avoid them. These are all scams that I have seen in my personal experience, which is mostly on Upwork and Indeed. But you will find the same or similar scams on other job boards.
Scam #1: Too-high or low rates
The old adage goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” If you see a job posting with an outrageously high rate, this should be a red flag. No one is going to pay you $100 per hour to proofread when the market rate is $20-$40 per hour. They certainly aren’t going to pay that amount right out of the gate to a freelancer they don’t know.
Likewise, if a potential client is offering much too low of a rate, this could be a sign of a scammer, as well—someone perhaps trying to gain an advantage over an unsuspecting contractor by using pity or empathy as a motivation. But even if a low-paying client is legitimate, there are still good reasons to avoid these types of offers. If a job offers $50 to proofread an entire book, your effective hourly rate is going to end up being just a few dollars per hour at best.
Be on the lookout for clients who don’t have their budgets dialed in, and in general, try to find clients who are paying an appropriate amount for your service.
Scam #2: “Must start today!”
If a client contacts you within minutes of submitting a proposal, there is a good chance you’re dealing with a scammer—and it’s bonus points if they want you to start immediately (as in, that very minute).
Most legitimate clients will take at least a day or two to wait for applications to come in before reaching out to potential contractors. And many clients now are tending to use test projects to determine fit before committing to a proofreader. Even clients with urgent needs understand that most projects can wait a few days while their freelance hires get up to speed.
Clients who want you to start immediately and who don’t want to take the time to verify that you will be a good fit for their needs are typically running scams. Make sure the clients you work for have a more measured approach when it comes to starting a project or contract.
Scam #3: Asking to send money or supplies
As a W-9 freelancer in the US, a client legally cannot provide you with equipment or supplies to do your job. They are only hiring your time and expertise. When a potential client states that they will be sending you a computer (for example) to do your work on, you should consider it a deal-breaker. This is absolutely not the correct (or legal) way to hire a contractor!
A scammer may also offer to send you a cash deposit (or, more brazenly, ask you to send them money) in order to start working. Again, this is extremely suspect; legitimate clients do not send you money up front for any reason (unless you’ve prearranged an up-front payment plan in the contract).
If a client offers to send you tools, equipment, or money before any work has begun, this is a huge alarm bell. Not only is it almost certainly a scam, but it’s illegal to boot.
Scam #4: The Telegram interview request
When it comes to client proofreading scams, often it’s a matter of identifying red flags, doing some follow-up investigation, and making educated guesses. In the case of a Telegram interview, however, no detective work is required.
If a potential client wants to take communication off of platform-approved channels and instead “needs” you to contact them via Telegram, it is all but guaranteed to be a scam. It’s even more obviously illegitimate if they want you to contact “HR Director Mr. So-and-So”.
Real, actual clients don’t use Telegram. They stay on-platform or use widely accepted communication tools like Gmail or Zoom.
Scam #5: The same or similar job posting multiple times
It’s fairly common to peruse job boards and find very similar—if not the same—wording in multiple jobs posted in quick succession. I’m not talking about the same company posting a job on multiple sites—I mean the same job posting popping up multiple times in rapid succession on the same site.
This should obviously raise some alarms in your head. The best-case scenario is this is a potential client who doesn’t understand how to use the job site; do you really want to work with someone that incompetent? The more likely case is this “client” is (poorly) running a scam.
If you see the same wording in multiple job posts, it’s safe to assume they are all fraudulent.
Bonus scam: The text-message job offer
I have received a few of these in the past several years. Invariably these scammers use the same playbook. First, they obtain your contact information from your resume on LinkedIn. Then they send you an unsolicited text message offering you a job at a very nice (but not too high) rate. When you respond, they tell you to contact “HR Director Mr. So-and-So” on Telegram—which puts us right back into the client proofreading scams mentioned above (#4 specifically).
Unsolicited text messages of any kind are usually trouble, and an out-of-the-blue job offer via SMS is no exception. Rather than reply, it’s best to report it as spam and move on.
Wrapping it up: Client proofreading scams
Anytime you are in talks with a client, proofreading scams should be on your mind. There are many great clients looking for proofreaders like you on the internet, but the unfortunate reality is there are also a number of scammers looking to game the system. But by being aware of the above scams you will give yourself a leg up in the battle against these bad actors.
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